I know we have covered some of this ground before, but while doing some research, I found some good facts to support the idea that eating local food is important for the environment.

For instance, for each pound of locally grown food you buy, you'll cut your CO2 emissions by 13 pounds. Consider this: those strawberries we buy in January were transported from somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere - like Argentina or Australia. (Animal Vegetable Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver; newdream.org)

In the United States, it takes 7-10 calories of energy to produce one calorie of food that we eat. How can this be? On average, an item in the grocery store has traveled nearly 1,500 miles by truck, ship, plane or train. (Source: Heller, Martin C., and Gregory A. Keoleian. Life Cycle-Based Sustainability Indicators for Assessment of the U.S. Food System. Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan, 2000: 42.)

The Leopold Center compared what it takes to haul food from other states into Iowa via large semitrailer trucks versus what it takes to haul food within the state in small light trucks. It found that growing and transporting just 10 percent more food within Iowa would result in an annual fuel savings ranging from 294,000 to 348,000 gallons and yearly emissions reductions ranging from 7 million to 7.9 million pounds." From The Christian Science Monitor, May 14, 2003.

Buying only locally produced meat and produce would result in a 1/100th of the CO2 emissions, or about 1,000 pounds less CO2 each year per person. (Source: organicconsumers.org- Canada)

So, what this means is that if you want to eat local food year round, you have a couple of choices: 1. can and freeze food when it is in season, so you will have it the rest of the year, and 2. be prepared to modify your diet throughout the season to accomodate the locally available food.

We have a couple of pounds of local blueberries frozen in our kitchen freezer, so I can add them to my morning oatmeal in the winter! Frozen pesto is ready to make a quick dinner come winter (just add soem grated parmesan and heat it up, and voila!) Similarly, we have several jars of salsa and tomatoes canned in the cupboard for use this winter.